Throughout this application various publications are referred to, including by number in square brackets. Full citations for these references may be found at the end of the specification. The disclosures of these publications, and all patents, patent application publications and books referred to herein, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the subject application to more fully describe the art to which the subject invention pertains.
Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) persist as significant health problems globally, disproportionally impacting developing countries and poor communities around the world and fueling the HIV epidemic. Vaccines are urgently needed for these infections as currently there is no effective vaccine for HSV-1, HSV-2 or HIV. HSV-1 is the primary cause of infectious blindness, while HSV-2 is the primary cause of genital ulcers globally, although HSV-1 is now more commonly identified in association with genital tract disease in developed countries. Genital herpes is a recurrent, lifelong disease that can stigmatize and psychologically impacts those affected. Infection with HSV-2 significantly increases the likelihood of acquiring and transmitting HIV, while vertical transmission of either serotype often leads to severe infant morbidity or death. Recent clinical trials of HSV-2 vaccines based on sub-unit formulations using viral glycoproteins D alone or in combination with glycoprotein B (gD and gB) have failed, despite inducing systemic neutralizing antibodies. Surprisingly an HSV-2 gD subunit (gD-2) vaccine provided partial protection against HSV-1, but no protection against HSV-2. Several attenuated viruses been evaluated pre-clinically, but clinical studies to date have been limited to therapeutic applications (reducing frequency of recurrences) and have also failed to show efficacy. Thus, novel vaccine strategies must be engineered and evaluated.
The present invention addresses this need for new and improved HSV-1 and HSV-2 vaccines.